


Guardian Moon

by SeaOfBones



Series: Hubert/f!Byleth Oneshots [5]
Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst and Humor, F/M, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Black Eagles Route, Grief/Mourning, Pre-Relationship, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), but there is Shippy Content, hubert please tell me if you are in love with the professor, in which I try to piece together act 1 from el & hubert's perspectives, references to canonical childhood trauma, so that i can get someone else to kill her, this is more edelgard and hubert focused, who would have thought that two very traumatised individuals, would be really weird about grief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:13:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25075171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeaOfBones/pseuds/SeaOfBones
Summary: Hubert tries to give Edelgard a rational explanation for why he is affected by Jeralt's death.
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg & Hubert von Vestra, My Unit | Byleth/Hubert von Vestra
Series: Hubert/f!Byleth Oneshots [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1500209
Comments: 4
Kudos: 49





	Guardian Moon

Hubert was pacing the boards of Lady Edelgard’s room, the thick red curtains drawn. He was thinking about Byleth kneeling in the rain, her dark hair cast over her father’s body. She had not hidden her tears, despite the intrusive presence of her gawping students.

“I understand why the _Professor_ is upset,” Lady Edelgard said, standing in the middle of the room with her arms folded. “Although I wish she was not so… _blinded_ by her grief. But I don’t understand why _you_ are upset, Hubert.”

Indeed, Hubert did not mourn Jeralt, particularly. He had spoken to him only rarely, and never alone. Nor had he been the subject of much discussion in he and Byleth’s battle of wills. But it had become more and more clear to him, like a growing itch, that there was some warmth between father and daughter that Hubert’s own life had prepared him no analogy for.

He knew how strong Byleth was. Irritatingly strong, at times. Perhaps that was why seeing how much Jeralt’s death had snatched away from her had… disquieted him.

“ _Upset_ is not the word for my response, Lady Edelgard,” Hubert insisted, his voice low against prying ears. “I am merely _concerned_ that Jeralt’s death was... beyond unnecessary. An unfortunate decision on our allies’ part.”

“I am aware of that,” Lady Edelgard replied. “It is not the choice I would have made. But you know as well as I that we are… beholden to each other at the moment. We have to live with their decisions. We have lived with worse before, and will again.”

It was a discussion they’d had a thousand times. Lady Edelgard would require the strength of Those Who Slither in the Dark to overcome the Church of Seiros. The darkness of their deeds was a necessary sacrifice, as necessary as Hubert’s own evils. He expected she would balk at some of what he had done in her name. But it had been in _her_ name.

What happened at Remire had been too far for Lady Edelgard. As distasteful as Hubert had found it, one of them needed to stomach it. So he had stood strong through Lady Edelgard’s anger, a focusing hand.

And it was because he knew he was capable of enduring so much more that he was struggling to articulate a practical reason for why, then, the death of one man had been too far for him.

“But will _she_ know it wasn’t us?” he asked.

Hubert realised he’d stopped pacing.

“She may not,” Lady Edelgard said mildly. “She was… unhappy when I appeared before her in the Flame Emperor’s guise. But you have said yourself many times that we must prepare for a future where we move on without her. Though it is charming to see that you are, for once, concerned with keeping her good will, we may have to live without it.”

“You misunderstand me, Lady Edelgard,” Hubert replied with a scowl. “And wilfully at that.”

He had, indeed, said that himself many times. He had considered it necessary to warn Lady Edelgard, at first. To save her from disappointment, if it turned out she had bestowed her favour on someone unworthy.

Recently, he had also found it necessary to remind himself.

“There is no harm in caring for her, Hubert,” Lady Edelgard chuckled, her small smile mocking him. “She has been our teacher for many months, and has certainly charmed the rest of our class.” The smile fell as quickly as it had appeared. “All that matters is that we are aware that she may not remain loyal to us.”

“I am well aware of that, Lady Edelgard,” Hubert replied. “That is not my concern.”

“Then enlighten me as to your thoughts,” Lady Edelgard said. “It is clearly not helping to keep them to yourself.”

“Jeralt Eisner was no devout ally of the Knights of Seiros,” Hubert said. A practical thread, one he could close his hands around. “He could have been as valuable an asset as the Professor herself, if he could have been persuaded to our cause. But if the Professor suspects that your hand was in any way behind her father’s death, we may have lost them both.”

“And you fear that if we lose her, we will be forced to rely on _them_ further, and it shall be even harder to be rid of them once we have succeeded,” Lady Edelgard mused. “I understand your fears, Hubert. But they are not new to us.” She fixed him with cool lilac eyes. “Has something changed, Hubert? Is there some… particular reason that her allegiance has become crucial?”

Hubert tensed. Truly, nothing had changed. They had found out little more about their Professor since she had taken up the Sword of the Creator. Byleth’s sorrow was new, certainly. But it did not change anything. She continued to be deadly, she continued to capture the adoration of their classmates.

It had only been days since he had followed Byleth to the Goddess Tower, and met her in the moonlight. Since the last time he had considered extending a trust to her that could have jeopardised everything.

He was not sure it would benefit Lady Edelgard to know about his… near mistake. Would it make him a liability? Would he be able to strike her down, if he needed to? He felt that he could. His… calmed disposition towards her would be scorched to nothing, should she turn on Lady Edelgard. There was no need, then. It was… embarrassing. It was unlike him, or at the least, unlike how he _should_ be.

“Perhaps I have merely come to understand why you favour her,” Hubert suggested. Even he was aware that it was a poor explanation.

“Then I am glad that you have come to agree with my judgement,” Lady Edelgard replied, eyes still narrowed. “But we both know it changes nothing. Jeralt is dead, and how she proceeds is her decision. We can only encourage her to choose well.”

Hubert had not even spoken to Byleth since her father’s death. Their classes had been, to his dissatisfaction, led by Manuela and Hanneman in her stead while she grieved. He had forgotten how any other mentor failed, in comparison to… her.

Her absence had been the source of Lady Edelgard’s own irritation, rather than the quality of her replacements. She had been disappointed to find Byleth still weeping, a few days after the event. Lady Edelgard, she who had faced such close grief a dozen times over, and honed her response to a sharp point - a knife with which to sever any clinging sorrow that might slow her down. It was something Hubert admired in his Emperor

As objective as he tried to be, he still remembered the gnashing anger and sorrow he had shown when Lord Arundel had taken Lady Edelgard from the Empire. He had been a child, yes, but old enough to know better. How he had mourned for someone not even dead. He did not regret his attempt to bring her back, no. But he regretted being caught, and the lingering, lashing pain of his father’s punishments. He had failed twice - not only had he disobeyed, but he had been unsuccessful in his disobedient goal.

He had learned not to make the same mistake again. When it came to Lady Edelgard, he would obey, or he would succeed beyond her own imagination. Byleth had been his only failure, in that regard. Still, they did not understand her. Even cracked and wounded as she was, he could not glimpse the innards of her soul.

“Then what would you have me do?” Hubert asked. He was not so neat as Lady Edelgard. It was he who pored through her cast-off dread, who explored every possible fear to its most dangerous conclusion. And if a tangible resolution was necessary, well… the blade he took to their sorrows was far more literal than hers.

“I have been thinking on that, Hubert. There may be a solution to all of our fears,” Lady Edelgard replied. “We help her seek revenge. We prove ourselves as true friends, and in turn we show Thales that our allies are not to be toyed with. I suspect that none of our classmates will object.”

The dark filaments of Hubert’s mind were already weaving. All of the resources he had at his disposal for tracking the movements of their so-called allies, for luring Kronya from her hiding place. If Those Who Slither In The Dark had further targets at the church, he suspected that she would not have gone far. He felt a calmness wash over him, at a practical possibility being within grasp.

“It will be as you wish, Lady Edelgard,” Hubert said, offering a bow.

He had never been much for condolences. If it had been in his interests or his desires to console and comfort Byleth, which it was not, he suspected he would be unable to. House Vestra had not built him to share in either sorrow or success, merely cause it. He would come across as a fool.

But to seek a target, and sever their life? This was his unique gift. This was what he knew how to do. He would do it for Lady Edelgard, for all that guiding Byleth towards Kronya could both eliminate a threat and win over an ally.

And, Hubert wished that he didn’t suppose, he would do it for _her_.


End file.
